These are kind of a big deal
This is my second pair of Calto shoes. I'm definitely a loyal customer, now.My first pair had only 2.5 inches of lift, and they were nice, but that number is a height increase over barefoot (not over other shoes), so it turned out it wasn't a lot more than some of my other shoes with thicker soles were already doing -- maybe an extra inch.But this time, I shot big, and the 4.5 inches of lift from these shoes are a big win. Things like my bathroom sink and kitchen counter are noticeably lower than they are when I'm not wearing these shoes, and a lot of people who are usually taller than me are now much closer to eye level. I'm not exaggerating when I say the change is significant.These are not platform shoes, where you the entire sole is thicker -- they're hidden, internal high heels on top of pretty ordinary soles that are only about 1.5 inches thick at the heel and maybe half that at the toe -- so your toes are low, your heels are high, so walking in them does take some getting used to. That's not specific to these shoes, but they're particularly high and this kind of tradeoff seems kind of inevitable for shoes that make you this much taller without being obvious. If you haven't owned a pair of Calto shoes before, these are amazing, and you may love them, but you might consider starting with a different pair (still from Calto, of course) with a somewhat smaller lift. This is one of the most aggressive lifts they make. I love it, but I'm still getting used to it.I'm happy with the price and quality, and I honestly think these look even better in person than they do in the pictures. They're larger than a normal pair of shoes, yet still very convincingly designed to look like high-tops, effectively disguising what's going on. In particular, the toe area and the collar are both very inconspicuous, proportioned very much like an ordinary pair of shoes. If you look long enough, of course you can see that they're oversized, but unless you're looking for it, I'd say it doesn't jump out.